


Fade

by Arlyshawk



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Sad Ending, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 19:32:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4758242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlyshawk/pseuds/Arlyshawk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A night under the stars after the Inquisition has gone quiet turns sour when a raven informs Alistair of some terrible news.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fade

**Author's Note:**

> I've yet to play the Trespasser DLC, but these contain NO SPOILERS. So please, read on.

The sky is clear without a cloud to hinder the great break of twilight that evening. Alistair turns his gaze to the stars, as if to pretend that he doesn't see the way they burn away the last bit of day. He spends many of his nights like this, sitting atop his horse and watching the stars, counting them infinitely. He forgets that Ferelden is covered in thicker pines than in the Free Marches and often their lofty tops obscure his view. 

Tonight is no different. 

Aerion nudges him with his velvety snout as he passes by the horses. He presses his hand against the stallion's muzzle. Eowyn's horse smells of oats and leather and fresh spring roses - of her. Alistair stops denying that he enjoys these little explorations that Eowyn takes with him in the far reaches of Ferelden to scout now that the world has long since lulled itself into quiet. No one questions this, no one asks them as they pass why a Senior Warden would ride with the Inquisitor because for all intents and purposes it hardly matters to most of his kinsmen. 

Alistair looks back at Eowyn. She prowls the forest floor, chestnut tresses gleaming with pale, silvery moonlight. Every step is deliberate, her body stretching with each step and then snapping back like a bow as she leaps over undergrowth before ducking beneath the low hanging branches. With her green surcoat and brown vest, she nearly blends with the budding winter forest. If there had not been frost gleaming with starlight, he might've missed her. 

He goes to the fire and plops down on his gelding's blanket and searches the skies. Alistair takes out his journal, spying a new constellation that is foreign to him, and jots down what he sees. It resembles the criss crossing laces of a corset. 

"What has you so fascinated?" Eowyn asks and startles him out of his drawing. She is looking up to the heavens, cheeks as pale as fresh milk and golden eyes aglow with the child-like fascination that Duncan described him often having with stars. 

As she sits beside him, he shows her the drawing he made - however awful it might be - he says, "It resembles Eluvia a great deal, but…" 

"It's a winter constellation," A smile quirks up the sides of her rosy lips. She rests her head on his shoulder, "Though on a night like this, I suppose you could see a lot of constellations." 

He dips his head and kisses her hair, that smells of rose oil and the warm oat scent of horses. A tangle of stress undoes itself in his chest as she gently rubs the nape of his neck, massaging out the knots with careful fingers. His hand stills on the dip of her waist, remembering the way she backed away from him many times before during the war as shy as a spooked mare. That is a year past now, but the fear of her tearing away from him, shaking, lingers. 

"Do you ever look up and wonder what it's like to be a star?" He thinks aloud. 

Eowyn giggles softly, craning her head back to look up at him. Her eyes are golden, gold like the sun and flecked with brown hues that remind him of speckled amber. "I used to, when I was very small and often dreamt of knights swooping in on white horses to save me from my family's responsibilities. But that was a long time ago… And I wish that I still had those days." 

He squeezes her tight, "You will, I have faith." 

~.~.~ 

_The raven stares at him with curious, black eyes as he reads, "She's dying, Alistair. -Leliana_

A torrent pours on Skyhold so terrible that the rain is slanted and thunder rolls overhead. He pushes past Cullen, who dares to stop him when the fear of the death of his lady strikes his heart. He throws the door open and is frightened by the sight before him. 

Eowyn always enjoyed watching the sky; the stars, the sunshine on the stained glass, the moonlight in the panes of glass, all of it. The thick, dusky curtains are drawn and there are books - books that she bought in Ferelden - scattered every which way as if a fight had broken out between her and a dragon. The only light in the room are the dying candles in the far end of the room. His heart clenches in his chest as the air hisses and snaps before sickly green light erupts on the bed and a scream tears through it. 

Alistair strides to the bed, where Eowyn's form lies curled so tight that knees nearly reach her forehead. Her breathing is shallow and rapid, like a scared deer, but he can see the tension in her jaw as the neon veins from the Anchor race up her arm and under her silk shift. They pulse, alive, with her breaths. 

He touches her wavy tresses, feeling the weight of it against his palm. It's soaked from water and her skin is cool to the touch. Fear coils down his back with ice. He should've never left for Weisshaupt, he should've stayed with her. And then suddenly, Eowyn's golden eyes peer up at him, suddenly flooding with tears. 

"A-Alistair," She rises on shaky limbs to clutch at him with trembling hands. With every bit of strength, he pulls her into his arms. At once, she pushes her face into his neck where his collar dips to meet his collarbones. He feels her tears and the clamminess of her skin as he rubs circles on her back. "Make it stop… I beg of you." 

"We'll figure something out, love," Alistair tells her, though the words feel like lead on his tongue. The problem is, he doesn’t know; all he can do is keep her calm as another pulse makes her scream into his shoulder. Perhaps Leliana is right, the Anchor will kill her. His life is short-lived as it is… 

Eowyn digs her fingers into his back, daring to go slack in his arms. She clings to him and his fears surge to the surface, rising in the back of his throat with hot bile. Quietly, he prays that the Maker not take her from him now. Not now… 

"If I die…" 

"Don't say that, please," Hisses Alistair, terror cracking his voice by a hair. 

She makes a sound that is half a scoff and half a chuckle, but it's a breath all the same, "I want to be a star… So.. So I can see you and I know you'll be looking for me." 

"Eowyn, come now.." 

A pulse makes her groan, but she does nothing else: not a scream or yelp, "Please, grant me this. If I become star, tell me you'll look for me?" 

"I will." 

And since he entered the room, a smile comes to her mouth. The same that creased her mouth the night they spent under the stars. 


End file.
